Reviews

I can say it's my favorite film of all times, the first movie i loved as a teenager confused with life. i won't get to deep in it, because like all those things we love, we don't need to over anlayse or dig them to understand why we do so. However it is beautiful on every level, production, cinematography the soundtrack with sufjan stevens, but most importantly the story and the charachters. It's a road trip on the quest for the true meaning of life and self-discovery, beyond artifice, plastique perfection and self-help poison, a film that resonates now more than ever, a life lesson about embrassing life with it's flaws, imperfections, sadness and illogical twists and linving it honestly free from the need of approval, because you know we live once and tommorow is a new day. Every charcter on this film will make you grow as a human. Personally i saw my self in every character and that's why this film holds a very special place in my heart.

A true masterpiece that contrastes Miyazaki's genius. For me this film represents life with its ambivalence, like true life seen on a microscopic level there's no good or bad, no final Victim or offender since everything is a matter of perception. And princess mononoke shows this perfectly by not setting any true antagonists. Since all the sides of this film are doing what they're doing for a convincing reason, for their survival and ishitaka serves as the mediator in the middle of this storm trying to find harmony. It's also more relevant then ever because the way it addressed industrialization and its desastrous effect on earth, the human thrust for more resources will lead to his end, and our stiving to survive might be, ironically the reason of our extinction. The film is very savage, brutal and dark, it's definitely not a kids film because i don't see a kid comprehending it. Still the animation is stunning, the details, the colors the movements this movie is a work of art, and it's really a statement of how animation can provide a complexe and solid substance that live action features can't. This movie will wow you, and honestly we need it now more then ever before.

Kiarostami's cinéma, is very humane, his movies are gentle, raw and compassionate Outlook into the psych of humans, therefore kiarostami's is the king of protraying the essence of our emotions and what makes us humans on a surgically precise and honest level. And through the olive trees is the perfect example, always following his documentary/fiction signature he directs a movie about a guy in love trying to defy his condition, the refusal of he surroundings and convince the subject of his affection while directing a movie inside a movie, where he as a director perfectly played by mohamed ali in the movie whom after sympathizing with Houssein's honesty and naive and deep love for this girl, makes from his movie a quest to put this two subjects on the same path and help houssein express his feelings for the girl. The result is heart-warming, tendering and tear jerking. The film also beside being a beautiful unconventional love story is a painting set in this villages surrounded by olives standing as witnesses to this vilmagers struggle after the earthquake (i know what it feels i've been there) as Kiarostami molds with them and get to know and hear their stories while conveying the beautyof sucj place even after a terrific disaster, for him this movie is also a sort of an homage. a beautiful and honest masterpiece.

"i am here to do the house shore or take care of the kids" the thing that hit me about this film is the condescendence Joana is treated with, in the middle of this white family who seems to have lost their colonist lifestyle in Dakar, directly addressing the effects of colonialism, racism, and post-colonial identity in Africa and Europe. These themes are highlighted through the recurring appearance of an African mask that Diouana gives to her employers on her first day of work at the house. They put the mask with other pieces of African Art and, later, the mask is hung on the white wall in the French couple's Senegalese apartment, alone. The mask has a different meaning.it's a deep study of latent racism, colonialism. it's also a juxtaposition of life in France and Africa for this African girl. when she was in Africa she wanted to be in France for the opportunity and when she arrived in France she regretted her freedom and found her self a victim of racism and modern soft slavery. Her life was more open in her hometown even with poverty while in France she was trapped between her room and the kitchen. for me, this movie is timeless because it tackles the white superiorité fantasy, modern racism, immigration, and the myth of inclusion in the occidental societies faced with opportunism and exploitation.

A visual masterpiece, Wes Anderson took his style and critics and went to the next level, and doing what he does best, make movies that feel like movies. this film serves as painting, the visual style is a narrative on its own, accompanied by the story narrative. These two narratives correlate to create this ultimate, immersive, graphic, and evocative stream. it's a story, inside a story, inside a story, inside a story, and each story is loyal to its period's popular aspect ratio ( yes the changing of aspect ratio has a meaning), it's a perfect comedic tragedy wes took from the comedic language oof twenties and thirties cinema and gave it a twist of modernity. Emotions are conveyed with colors, light, and mise on scene techniques rather than poignant dialogues or melodrama, and it worked perfectly. This film touches the spectator on a sensual level, it's engaging and makes you wanna dive in its world. in general, it reminded me of the euphoria I felt when I watched movies as a child. it's definitely Wes Anderson on steroids embracing nostalgia and fighting tyranny with irony, frivolity, and unshakable charm (hens the ZZ is a hint to the dutch SS). a perfection and one of my fave of all times.

This film hit near the Bones, i loved every second of it, and more importantly i felt it. This is somehow a love lettre to lower middle classe families struggling to secure a living, this struggle puts so much pressure on them it tears em appart, and alienates their relationships, it can even lead to abuse. This film is so real and deep the acting is just outstanding it hits you in your guts especially if you see your life in it. Yet no matter the struggle this familly Always found a way to stick back togther, Everyone cares about eachother the mom is so affectionate, the kids are so mature for their age. It a very touching story that many will identify with. I did I saw myself, childhood in that film, i really felt everything that family was going through like i was there and that what's cinema is about

A beautiful masterpiece, am in wow, forfirst it had one of the best opening scenes ever nad it hit me very deeply, I deeply identified with Alain, a failed writer suffering from numbness to life, a man who wants to feel, to sens but can't, a man looking for deep love but only gets superficial affection, a perfectionist who doesn't want to live his life if it's not as he wanted it to be, a refusal to live for the sake of living as he expressed it to his friend in the garden. constantly living in existential dread. I loved this character and this film so much It's a work of art, a deep character study and every scene feel poetic and ethereal especially the walks in Paris, in the garden, and under the rain or in the coffee shop accompanied by the soothing yet melancholic Satie's melody giving this scenes a diaphanous yet deep melancholy. I can speak all day about this film and I won't give it justice just watch it!

This film is what cinema is about! when you watch this movie you understand the value of staging and direction. you understand that a movie as a form of art is an idea of someone brought to life. the technicity of this film will blow you away, the cutting, the camera movements, the colors, photography, and cinematography are outstanding, Demy stands out as a visionary and a master of his art. this story wouldn't work as a book, nor as a live musical alone it only works as a film, because it's so artificial yet so real, it looks childish and sweet but it's audacious, dark and political. when I'll remember this film I'll remember the traveling, the characters floating, the rooms colors that match the character's clothes, there is a pleasure and a precision in the staging and how it's all brought together. it's very classical and Hollywoodian yet transgressive and experimental; before this movie, it was strictly forbidden for characters to stare at the camera yet Demy broke the fourth wall twice in such gracious ad precise way when JeanVieve accepts the fact that she will marry the rich Marchand Rolland and in the church during the marriage scene. it also shows how the biggest artifice out there can Evoque reality and how colors can Evoque how dark reality is, and it's one of the rarest french movies to Evoque the Algerian war, it was probably written during the war, it's deeply political since it showed how it could destroy a young man, it's also tragedy about a girl who promises to wait but never even if it starts with some romantic classicism to only diverge to this dark realistic portrayal of life. for me, it's a masterpiece one of my favorite of all times.

I grew up watching this movie. where I came from it's considered as a nationalist artifact, it's shown each national and independence day. So for me, it was only a revolutionary and national film that depicts the cruelty f the french colonization in Algeria that I memorized scene by scene. it was only until recently that I decided to see the film for what it really is and getting a restored copy of it. After not watching it for almost 10 years, I tried to stay unbiased and take it for what it is, and to my surprise, I was in trance. it's one of the best movies ever made, why? Because it readapts the truth so meticulously it feels like a documentation of the reality itself. the film doesn't take sides, it doesn't try to give the right to any side on the expense of the other, this movie doesn't play ethics, it just shows the terror that goes on both sides and the story flow to the rhythm of these true events perfectly restaged, to the point it can be considered as a minute by minute reportage of the events. The war of Algiers was so eventful on itself, the Algerian revolutionaries so complex they didn't need writing and it was made 3 years after the Algerian independence so the memories were fresh, the feelings and terror still lived and felt, it's impossible to make such movie nowadays, Every scene is perfect and felt intensely. this movie is cinema witnessing history. perfection

It's crazy how Melville's samurai is inspired by the Camus Stranger. Jeff Costello embodied by Alain Delan is the spiritual brother of Meursault since the two are anomics seeking their end. Costello is cold deprived of all meaning, he exists only through what he does which is killing, he lives alone, he can't show emotion or feeling even when his lover risks everything for him, and the style of Melville enhances this feeling of solitude and alienation, the movie is almost deprived of colors the music is so angsty and thrilling, the character only moves in the night and only lives to survive, words are rare, the only bond the protagonist feels is with his bird trapped in a cage which is a metaphor to him and I can go on and on about it and it might get long. A classic and a very beautiful existentialist manifesto while being a groundbreaking movie and artistic statement.

This is a movie about why telling stories matters,and the role of cinema and art in general. I stand here on the verge of proclaiming this film as my favorites of all time. it's a lettre d'amour to films and art and their role in society, far from the high society high brow perception of such things. through this film which happens to be a true story, Abbas Kiarostami shows us how cinema puts words on suffering, how representation can change a person's life and how art knows no social class to be understood and felt. it's also a story of a white hearted man so passionate, so touching, trying to live his dream even through a lie, trying to give something back to the medium and the director who knew how to depict and understand his suffering. Without having the means or the knowledge and fed by a deep need to escape his fatal reality. at some level, I identify to sabzian, as film lover who always wanted to be a part of this thing that has so much impact on him, which made me fall in love with this movie. Close-up is also about great cinema, I was blown away, it blends reality and fiction and the rendering is poetic, exquisite and aesthetically pleasing, the framing, the angles, cinematography all winsome and engaging, nothing is left for chance and the acting too is taken to extreme, that's what I call near-perfect cinema

This film is Quentin Tarantino showing us how much he knows about film history. In general it's really good, the cinematography is outstanding the retro nostalgia and the acting are the main attraction here, especially Leo and Brad pitt who gave a very memorable interpretations and the last part of the film is typical Tarantino carnage. However it felt like it lacked a stream and a story it was spinless, even if the overall build up is something to admire it didn't go anywhere special in term of story telling. But that didn't bother me particulary because I was able to enjoy every other great thing in this movie from the beautifully Filmed and curated sections and scenes to the perfect soundtrack.

I was stunned by this movie. Mainly because it came at an accurate and critical point in my life and also because I saw myself in Luke's character, his existential calamity and struggle to find his path. Cool Hand Luke also caught me because of its portrayal of the strong bonds between men, it's also a beautiful showcase of masculinity with luke as the unsettled rebel, Courageous, perseverant, cool and stoic.... etc representing the man model, however, it's these patterns that lead to his end. Yet, masculinity and men bonds aren't the main subjects of this film. The storyline of Luke is one of a tortured and free man brawling with this freedom and struggling to give meaning to his bleak life. Luke self-destructive behavior leads him to this work- camp/prison where he was supposed to get his mind right and comply with rules and standards. however, this place makes him more resilient to find his own way in life, trying to escape as he realizes he can't fit in with these ideals. Even if at some point we see him regretting not starting a home and settling down. It was stirring, as he turned to god and tried belief as his last resort in one of the most classical and best scenes of cinema, in my opinion. All this to end up to the realization that he was on his own. Add to it Paul Newman nailed his role, he gave his complex character this enthralling charisma and infectious witt but most importantly he triumphed at portraying the light and smiley despair of luke. A film for the ages, it truly resonated in me for all the right reasons.

I was really sceptic about this film at first but after watching it I I'm really surprised! This was actually really really good everything about it is about it is innovative and the story I thought it was childish is really complex and deep. The animation of this film is unlike anything you've ever seen unlike Pixar that tends to focus on realism this one is surreal and isn't afraid of it's animation status, it takes advantage of it. The colors, the comic theme the excellent soundtrack all is mesmerizing. Yet that's not all the rapport between our characters is very humain and heartfelt especially the Spidermen, despite it been animated you feel the depth of the bond they formed more particularly the one between miles and peter parker with there father son, big young bothers Dynamic that's can't but make you aw. Plus i guess i have a thing for peter parker too hihi. In general this was a surprise a hell of a good one!!

I guess Terrance Malick is a true genius. First knowing this movie's longitude and epilepsy I can understand why some might say it's boring, but people saying that nothing happens in it are absurd, Life isn't nothing. First I was personally touched by the complex relation of jack and his dad, to some extent I truly identified with him and to my surprise, my childhood memories started popping up, and as they did I recaptured them the same way Terrance did with Jack, like small cuts out of context, with no storyline, just random scenes from the past charged with feelings. and Terrance really caught this abstract phenomenon and this aesthetic of remembering and perfectly translated it to the screen. I love how this film is a movie to feel, every scene and memory is full with emotions and almost empty of dialogue. for example you feel jack's wondering about God, wanting to fix his rapport with his dad, his jealousy towards his brother, but he never says them. And as I said the tree of life is a movie about life and that weird scene about dinosaurs was the key to understand it as it settles its philosophy to the surface. the film treats our minuscule presence in the universe, the meaningless of existence compared to huge space and the billions of years that preceded us yet it injects warmth in this cold thesis by settling on the beauty and the fulfillment of the little things in life. it also questions god and our nature by asking if we're the fruit of grace created to his image or just animals shaped by nature. On a smaller scheme, inside the family, the father represents the nature and the mother the grace and it attests how these two concepts generally live in harmony despite the conflict. Another thing I would like to highlight about this philosophical film is how beautiful and technical it is, Emmanuel Lubezki did a tremendous job, thanks to the close shots the film was really intimate, and rather been a spectator you're projected inside this family. The whole thing is a great achievement and it adds to Terrance legend, a modern age Classic.

I was skeptic about this film, but it proved me totally wrong. It's really powerful and emotive, a beautiful story about a group of man each failing his life in his own way and trying to reclaim their manhood through Synchronized swimming. it might sound absurd said like this but it's really good a perfect reflexion of the crisis of masculinity of our time, add to it it's a perfectly funny and comical film.

My feelings and relationship with Woody Allen's movies are like the ocean tides, it comes and goes and most of the times it takes me time to digest it fully, it's like getting to know a person for the long term. Manhattan is no exception and what's nice about it is its personal and intimate slant towards the characters, it perfectly zooms into their psyche and temperament to the point where the spectator is extended to the story as he finds himself apprehending these characters, their insecurities, goodness, and qualities the same way he knows his family and close friends, but here it only takes him one hour and a half to get into their spirit. The film is also a take on the complexity of human relationships and ou fear of happiness. for example, every character keeps finding himself a justification to avoid the confrontation happiness and settling with the image they have of it for fear of getting hurt like Isaac who keeps using Tracey age as an argument to avoid commitment with her and yale using his marriage as an excuse to prevent himself from consuming his love for Marry....it's also a portrayal of how chaotic and immature adult life can be juxtaposing it with the maturity of its youngest character Tracey, a mirror of our turbulent and uncontrolled lives, and the way we disregard the happiness sitting right next to us. That's what good cinema is about; letting you see the bigger picture and detach from your universe, all this narrated and showcased in a border poetic black and white New-york, which is its most complete and definite dress.

I've been planning to watch this movie since a while now. I was really hyped about it and I wasn't disappointed. This film is the equivalent of a ten tonne track hitting you in the chest, I can't remember the last time I was this touched and related to a film, to the point my eyes teared. It's a beautiful rendition of the struggle and the difficult conditions a marginalized part of society lives in and how this hard conditions and indifference towards this people results in a snowball effect and closed circle of violence and suffering, with this struggle mainly seen through the eyes of zain, a 12 years old kid. This kid is a revelation, he has it in him, it was so real it felt like a documentary. it's a tour de force that will grow your empathy and your understanding and it's very relevant. It's everything we need in this hard times and that's the beauty of cinema

As much as I love animation, the Grinch and doctor Seuss this film wasn't it and it's far from the quality of similar films like Horton Hears a Who! or The Lorax. the animation was on top but the whole movie felt very linear and narrow even in its 1.30h short length the story was unnecessarily stretched to reach that. I wish they went creative with the story and offered new rather than playing it safe with a shot relief that doesn't much the 1hour build up. even if it's hard for me to say this film was boring and needlessly.